7-AUG-2007

What Does Mythic-Fantasy Mean?

The Ancient Greek and Roman settings are a natural pull for those in the gaming hobby. After all, it can easily be argued that Jason and the Argonauts were the first literary version of the adventuring party. Many games with this type of setting attempt to meld the mythic concepts of the ancient world with Earth’s historical past. That tells us what the norm is; what’s expected.

IMPERIVM isn’t about the expected.

First of all, this isn’t Earth. This world was specifically developed with the conceit that it’s creation story was 100% unassailable fact – everything else grew from that point. Historically, most myths are created to explain natural processes that simply aren’t comprehendable at the time, but things tend to be a bit different when you watch the gods who created your world walk around the city.

That said, you will recognize elements from ancient myths and historical events. The language used within the game world is undoubtably based on Latin, but has purposely been altered and modified to allow for clues so people can puzzle out foreshadowed events. The governmental structure of the Veridion League is taken from several leagues developed in ancient Greece combined with both the republican and imperial versions of the Roman senate. Meanwhile the top three positions are wholly fictional, sharing only the word “triumvirate.”

Though all of the primary citizens are human – many sentient creatures inhabit this world, contributing to tide of events that continue to buffet mankind. There are races of these creatures such as the wise centaurs or the fierce cyclops. Singular creatures exist as well; these are unique beings created for a singular purpose, former humans who have been cursed, or some manner of beast made monstrous by the death of the god Nemeus.

While fantastic elements are a part of these people’s lives, they exist on the level that celebrities do in our world. We know they exist and we’re not surprised to hear of their exploits, but they’re usually only encountered in very special circumstances. Although the common man may know that the Praetor has a chariot pulled by a mighty pegasus, seeing it in action is a once in a lifetime experience for most.